


Of Regret and Punishment

by navaan



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Character Study, Ficlet, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 19:31:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>M takes a moment to think about the death of her agent and the part she played in it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Regret and Punishment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bold_seer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bold_seer/gifts).



M had her suspicions when no body turned up. She knew her agent – and if anyone had turned cheating death into an art form it was 007. That was – had been – one of the reasons he was so good at what he was doing, even when he'd always managed to make her job infuriatingly complicated in the process. He'd been good and loyal and never, _never_ one to keep to the rules.

She supposed staying dead could be considered a rule.

So M was inclined to think that without body there was no real proof of his death. James Bond might still be alive and well somewhere. Maybe he wasn't well exactly. She suspected he hadn't been well in a very long time, although he'd always been very adept at hiding it and putting up a cold front to keep people away. 

One more thing that had made him a good agent.

And he wouldn't even be the first agent to take a disaster like this as an opportunity to leave everything behind and just take off, hiding himself away somewhere, choosing what they called “voluntary retirement” in whispers, even if officially it should have been considered defection. After all everybody knew there was no simple way to leave the service behind with a clean cut if you _weren't_ dead – and that was truer for their double-oh agents than for anyone else.

Yes, without proof it was hard for her to believe that Bond was actually dead. And maybe she only indulged the thought because she didn't want it to be true. But that was neither here nor there.

So she liked to imagine that 007 had taken a way out when the opportunity presented itself. Because he'd always been one to recognize an opportunity.

But she knew that Bond was not the typical candidate to slip away like this to start a new life. James was not the kind of man who'd choose a normal life somewhere hidden away. Staying hidden, would mean staying out of trouble and he'd never been particularly good at that. If Bond of all people had chosen to stay dead although he wasn't, there could be only one reasons for it. 

No, if he was alive, but not back here, there was a different reason for it.

If he stayed away, it was to punish her for not trusting in him enough.

The thought made her smile, because it would be so like him. Prideful James Bond, ever of the opinion that he knew what was for the best. If he was alive, this was her punishment for not believing in him.

Regret wasn't something she allowed herself to feel. Holding on to regret in this line of work would be unprofessional and nothing else. But she could admit to herself at least that this wasn't how she had wanted 007 to go. She'd made the call and ordered the shot, and even through she still thought that it had been the best decision at the time. But sometimes what was the right thing to do, could be a mistake anyway.

And sometimes mistakes were made, but there was no sense in dwelling on what could have been.

She'd miss him. It wasn't hard to admit that much.

With a sigh she sat down and opened the relevant documents, while thinking of him with fondness and a little sorrow – which was more than she had allowed herself to feel for anyone in a long time. 

She would write him an obituary he would hate. 

Surely he would've done the same for her.


End file.
